Professional Bike Fit

Steve Vai said:
He was in the shop the other day and we talked for quite a while about how modern XC bikes don’t fit anyone. I thought I was the oddball wanting an older bike GEO but apparently it’s everyone. On most of the Epics we sell the stem and bars get swapped to a 31.8 with a negative stem. Also every road bike made has the wrong width bar on it, which is super interesting being Retul Data literally shows that and no one has changed specs to what people actually need.
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One of the reasons we picked mondraker back up, it that they usually have the longest reach of anyone going. For humans with short legs and long torsos, a short reach is a bummer.

As for road bars, I don’t quite get the super narrow thing that’s going on. For me a 42 feels narrow. I follow a few popular fitters on IG who are really pushing this 36cm road bar thing. I’m sure in a wind tunnel it works great.

Trends come and go, but humans mostly stay the same.

Yes, fitting is usually worth it, I often remember what I learned in one of my first fit clinics with Micheal Sylvester…. The more miles someone has on their legs, the less you want to move them from their baseline. Big changes are best absorbed by new riders.

Also, I too trust in Timmy.
 
jdog said:
One of the reasons we picked mondraker back up, it that they usually have the longest reach of anyone going. For humans with short legs and long torsos, a short reach is a bummer.

As for road bars, I don’t quite get the super narrow thing that’s going on. For me a 42 feels narrow. I follow a few popular fitters on IG who are really pushing this 36cm road bar thing. I’m sure in a wind tunnel it works great.

Trends come and go, but humans mostly stay the same.

Yes, fitting is usually worth it, I often remember what I learned in one of my first fit clinics with Micheal Sylvester…. The more miles someone has on their legs, the less you want to move them from their baseline. Big changes are best absorbed by new riders.

Also, I too trust in Timmy.
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I run a 42cm bar on all my bikes except for the S3 where I run a 40cm. I’m also supposed to be on pedal spacers and a bunch of other poop. I’ve had fits done by every system and they all come back the same or close. I’ve never changed anything on my bike after the fit though because my body has just adapted to be where it is and I don’t want to screw with it. I can set my bikes up by feel at this point 😂
 
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jdog said:
For humans with short legs and long torsos, a short reach is a bummer
Trends come and go, but humans mostly stay the same.

Yes, fitting is usually worth it, I often remember what I learned in one of my first fit clinics with Micheal Sylvester…. The more miles someone has on their legs, the less you want to move them from their baseline. Big changes are best absorbed by new riders.

Also, I too trust in Timmy.
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That’s my big pause, I’m not a new rider.

But have also been skiing for 4 decades. Got my first ski lesson about 5 years ago. The instructor asked me why I wanted a lesson and I said I have been skiing since I was 11, and never had a lesson before, thought, why not? He watched me ski and the first thing he said was “yup, you ski like you’re still 11”. With a few tweaks and a half day, he had me much more efficient. The difference was startling.

I know it’s apples and oranges but if those gains are out there; so I can be more comfortable and efficient riding as I get older, it will be worth it.
 
Steve Vai said:
I run a 42cm bar on all my bikes except for the S3 where I run a 40cm. I’m also supposed to be in pedal spacers and a bunch of other poop. I’ve had fits done by every system and they all come back the same or close. I’ve never changed anything on my bike after the fit though because my body has just adapted to be where it is and I don’t meant to screw with it. I can set my bikes up by feel at this point 😂
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I also adjust by feel even after a “bike fitting” when getting a new bike. When renting a bike on a recent trip from a great shop they asked me for 2 measurements. BB to seat above seat post and same point to handlebars. Like “practical” stack reach. Rode for hours and had no problems. So I’m not at all convinced that all the shims, tweaks, spacers etc are necessary. Sort of why I’m on the fence about the whole thing.
 
krink said:
I also adjust by feel even after a “bike fitting” when getting a new bike. When renting a bike on a recent trip from a great shop they asked me for 2 measurements. BB to seat above seat post and same point to handlebars. Like “practical” stack reach. Rode for hours and had no problems. So I’m not at all convinced that all the shims, tweaks, spacers etc are necessary. Sort of why I’m on the fence about the whole thing.
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I’d say it’s important if you have pain or are looking for performance improvements. None of the current road trends are fit based, it’s to be aero AF and go faster. And look cool on the gram 😂
 
krink said:
I know it’s apples and oranges but if those gains are out there;
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There are gains to be had. That’s 100% the reason I got my bike fit. I told him my riding style and what I wanted to accomplish and I’m pretty happy with the results.
 
I concur a fitting is worth the investment. I still use numbers from my first fitting decades ago, although I suspect I'm due for a refresh. Something I'll do when I buy a new road bike next year.

I seem to be far more sensitive to fit on my road bikes than my mtn bikes. My Colnago is from the mid 90s and that was the bike I had the fitting done on. I can go months without riding that bike but when I do it feels like going home. It just feels perfect for me, despite being a traditional Euro road racing frame with fairly severe saddle to bar drop. My Grade rides smoother thanks to the 35c tubeless tires (vs. 25c tubed tires), but the fit has always been a struggle due to the more upright position. I have the stem slammed about as far as it can and it still feels too high during long rides.

The Grade also made me realize I'm more sensitive to bar width than I would have thought. When I had Halter's rebuild it back in 2020, I had them install a set of 42cm (C-C) Thomson Katy Compton bars. What I didn't realize when I bought those bars ages ago is I thought I was ordering the same width bars as I have on the Colnago. But manufacturers don't all measure bars the same. The Cinelli bars I bought were also sold as 42cm bars - but measured from edge to edge, not center to center. The Thomson bars are C-C, so in effect they are 44cm edge to edge. I couldn't ride the bike for more than an hour without my hands hurting like hell. After trying everything I could, I finally measured the bars again and discovered the 2cm difference. I then bought a set of used Cinelli 42cm E-E bars and installed those. Hand pain gone.

The Grade also taught me that flared bars are the devil's work... at least for me. Almost instant pain trying to ride with flared bars. I know a lot of folks love them, but definitely not for me. While I would like to try slightly more narrow bars (38cm C-C maybe), I doubt I'll stray far from what I know works for me. I've also generally settled on 760 width bars on my mtn bikes. And I seem to like a ~475 reach with a 45-50mm stem and a ~75 deg seat tube angle. The other part I never vary on is the saddle. After 30+ years my sit bones are molded to old school Selle Italia Flite (mtn) and Turbomatic (road) saddles, so that's what I run on all of my bikes. I have many spares on hand.

My analog mtn bikes are from 2019 and 2020. The 2024 Heckler geo isn't much different than my Megatower and feels comfortable and familiar - which is the main reason I bought it vs. all of the other bikes I tested. At this point I don't see me replacing any of the dirt fleet anytime soon.
 
Steve Vai said:
. On most of the Epics we sell the stem and bars get swapped to a 31.8 with a negative stem.
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That’s basically what I did.

IMG_0732.jpeg
 
Ian F said:
I concur a fitting is worth the investment. I still use numbers from my first fitting decades ago, although I suspect I'm due for a refresh. Something I'll do when I buy a new road bike next year.

I seem to be far more sensitive to fit on my road bikes than my mtn bikes. My Colnago is from the mid 90s and that was the bike I had the fitting done on. I can go months without riding that bike but when I do it feels like going home. It just feels perfect for me, despite being a traditional Euro road racing frame with fairly severe saddle to bar drop. My Grade rides smoother thanks to the 35c tubeless tires (vs. 25c tubed tires), but the fit has always been a struggle due to the more upright position. I have the stem slammed about as far as it can and it still feels too high during long rides.

The Grade also made me realize I'm more sensitive to bar width than I would have thought. When I had Halter's rebuild it back in 2020, I had them install a set of 42cm (C-C) Thomson Katy Compton bars. What I didn't realize when I bought those bars ages ago is I thought I was ordering the same width bars as I have on the Colnago. But manufacturers don't all measure bars the same. The Cinelli bars I bought were also sold as 42cm bars - but measured from edge to edge, not center to center. The Thomson bars are C-C, so in effect they are 44cm edge to edge. I couldn't ride the bike for more than an hour without my hands hurting like hell. After trying everything I could, I finally measured the bars again and discovered the 2cm difference. I then bought a set of used Cinelli 42cm E-E bars and installed those. Hand pain gone.

The Grade also taught me that flared bars are the devil's work... at least for me. Almost instant pain trying to ride with flared bars. I know a lot of folks love them, but definitely not for me. While I would like to try slightly more narrow bars (38cm C-C maybe), I doubt I'll stray far from what I know works for me. I've also generally settled on 760 width bars on my mtn bikes. And I seem to like a ~475 reach with a 45-50mm stem and a ~75 deg seat tube angle. The other part I never vary on is the saddle. After 30+ years my sit bones are molded to old school Selle Italia Flite (mtn) and Turbomatic (road) saddles, so that's what I run on all of my bikes. I have many spares on hand.

My analog mtn bikes are from 2019 and 2020. The 2024 Heckler geo isn't much different than my Megatower and feels comfortable and familiar - which is the main reason I bought it vs. all of the other bikes I tested. At this point I don't see me replacing any of the dirt fleet anytime soon.
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Flared Gravel bars are a horrible trend.
 
I benefited greatly from a fit by Halter's/Don. Was getting hand and foot numbness on my road bike. Made tweaks to shoes, cleat position, pedal spacer , stem and saddle height. Issues are gone and feeling better on the bike since. additionally, it was an hours long education in bike fit /body positioning. worth the price of admission IMO.
 
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